Bullitt considers expanding alcohol sales

Little Rick's Neighborhood Bar and Grill spends $1,400 each football season to bring every game to the restaurant's customers — including the few fans who are there Sunday nights.

On the most-watched football night of the week, customers pass the Lebanon Junction restaurant on their way to others in Bullitt and surrounding counties that can sell alcohol on Sundays, co-owner Rick Clark Jr. said.

"They can come, but they want to go somewhere where they can have a beer," Clark said.

Now, after Clark approached them, Bullitt Fiscal Court members are considering allowing businesses in small cities and unincorporated areas of the county to sell alcohol by the drink or package during certain Sunday hours.

The members will make a decision at their meeting Tuesday.

Clark first asked the Lebanon Junction City Council for a permit to sell alcohol on Sundays, but the officials were unable to approve it because state law does not give sixth-class cities the ability to make that decision.

Clark took his request to Fiscal Court, where members decided to consider opening Sunday alcohol sales to all businesses that don't fall within city limits, as well as those in sixth-class cities, including Lebanon Junction, Hunters Hollow, Fox Chase and Hebron Estates.

Regulations in the three larger cities vary. Hillview allows sales by the drink and by package between 1 p.m. and midnight, while Mount Washington and Shepherdsville allow only sales by the drink.

The time frame for the larger cities conflicts with the proposed amendment before Fiscal Court, which would allow businesses to sell alcohol from noon to 6 p.m. Roberts said she plans to request that Fiscal Court extend the time to match the cities' regulations.

The decision is an economic issue, Roberts said, because customers can now go outside the county to buy alcohol on Sundays instead of spending money in their communities.

However, no matter what the economic impact, Magistrate John Bradshaw, an ordained minister, said he will not vote for the amendment.

"I don't think we need to allow alcohol sales on Sunday, traditionally the Lord's day," he said. "People go to church on Sunday. I think if you want to buy your alcohol, you can buy it some other day of the week."

Reporter Bailey Loosemore can be reached at (502) 582-4646. Follow her on Twitter at @bloosemore.